Meeting Information

The Fungus Among Us

Date & Time:

Friday, October 4th, 2013 - 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Agenda:

7:30 am

Registration

8:00 am

Welcome, Rose Epperson

8:15 am

Learning to Identify Wood Decay Fungi, Dr. Jessie A. Glaeser
Learning to identify wood decay fungi is an essential skill for an arborist since proper diagnosis can assist in the development of accurate risk assessments. In this session, participants will learn some of the basic tools needed to identify common wood decay fungi that are frequently associated with hazard trees. Topics will include: what to look for in a fruiting body, the proper use of a hand lens, and how to use identification keys, and what resources are available for accurate identification.

9:30 am

Pruning with Care: When and How to Prune to Avoid Harming Birds, Roy Leggitt, III
Every year a variety of wildlife is harmed during tree maintenance. Learn how to avoid the nesting season, and strategies for wildlife conservation in Urban areas. A primer on the booklet being produced by the Golden Gate Audubon Society funded by The Britton Fund, Inc.

10:00 am

Break

10:30 am

Pruning and other practice affect the development of disease, Dr. Jim Downer
People Pressure in the urban environment. Canker disease exacerbated by drought.

12:00 pm

Lunch (Provided)

1:00 pm

Decay, Biological Transformation and Redemption Part I, Dr. Kevin T. Smith
Modern arboriculture is all about the care of trees through the application of correct knowledge and understanding. Sometimes that understanding requires taking a step away from the branch to be pruned or the tree to be planted to see the larger context of nature. At other times, that understanding requires gaining a sense of the chemical arrangements and metabolism that support the life of trees. Trees and forests are amazingly successful yet vulnerable to decay by a relatively small handful of fungi. We will explore the decay process itself and the context of wood decay as a source of risk as well as being as part of the essential living fabric that supports the life of trees and of our society

2:00 pm

Introduction to The Britton Fund Technical Information Sheets, Helen Stone
Evolution, purpose, how to use these new Technical Information Sheets.

Join Dr. Jessie A. Glaeser and Dr. Kevin T. Smith from 4 to 6pm for an authors’ reception and book signing celebrating their compendium published by The Britton Fund: Decay Fungi of Oaks and Associated Hardwoods for Western Arborists. (Additional ticket is required.)